Paradigm Shift
by Music-chan
Summary: A short little Sesshoumaru story


**"Paradigm Shift"**

A short little Sesshoumaru story  
by Music-chan  
Aka Rachelle F. 

  


    I had never thought to be hit by the Kaze no Kizu. 

    Of course, I had never thought that my arm would be cut off either. There was a lot I never imagined would happen to me but which did when _he_ showed up. 

    He had always been a thorn in my side, from the moment he was born until the day he died. Inuyasha. A hanyou. Half youkai, half human. Born of my father and a lowly human woman. I knew he would be weak, despite the dai-youkai blood in his veins, the same blood that flowed through mine. I knew he would never fit in because human and youkai were never meant to exist together. He was as distanced from me as a bug is from a human, you might say. As our father's oldest son, I knew that I should be favored above all others. When he made two swords, I knew that one of them would come to me. I was not smug, I was not proud; I just knew it as truth. 

    When father died, I expected to receive Tessaiga. That was the strongest of the two swords, the sword worthy of my own strength. It could kill multitudes of youkai in one swing. It was fierce, worthy of a youkai like myself, worthy of a dai-youkai like my father. 

    Then why, _why_, did it go to **him**? 

    Inutaisho died and took his treasured sword to his grave; a grave he intrusted to one person. To _him_. To Inuyasha. To me, he gave Tenseiga, a worthless sword that could harm no one. Though it too was made from my father's fang, it could not kill like Tessaiga. I know this for I have tried. Totosai said it was a sword of healing, of life. I was insulted. It is not life that makes a dai-youkai. It is strength. Tessaiga has strength, destructive strength and Tenseiga is weak. I yearned for the sword that could make me stronger. I desired to be as strong as my father and it was his sword that would help me achieve this. 

    Then Inuyasha was 'killed', sealed away by a dying miko. I searched for our father's legacy, what should have gone to me once the mongrel had died. If Inuyasha couldn't used the sword, then I should have been able to. For 50 years, I searched to no avail. I became stronger because I was still reaching for my goal and I needed to be strong. I carried Tenseiga though I had no use for it. It was mine, so I would keep it. Perhaps someday I would discover the secret to it's true power, something which I couldn't predict at the time. 

    Inuyasha reappeared as did my hopes for the sword. Only he knew where it was because he was the only one who held the secret to father's grave. It should have been easy and it would have been but my mongrel of a brother had some sort of female with him, a mate perhaps. She was human but there was something different about her. She had some sort of hidden power deep inside but I did not think it would get in my way. I wouldn't _let_ her get in my way. Should she tried, she too would die. 

    How ingenious of father to hide his grave in Inuyasha's eyes. I doubted that the boy would have found it on his own which made me wonder why father would hide his gift so well. Perhaps Inuyasha was not meant to have it after all. Still, the hanyou had the nerve to follow me through the portal and chase me into father's giant bones. Somehow he had gotten the idea that the sword was his, that he deserved it. Foolish boy. And yet, he was right. I could not touch Tessaiga because of a barrier Inutaisho had placed around it. It made me feel little better that Inuyasha couldn't retrieve it either. The sword was waiting for something but neither of us knew what it was. 

    How the girl managed to finally get it, I do not know. She removed the sword as easily as if it had never had a barrier around it in the first place. In my anger, I tried to kill her and the sword protected her, something I couldn't understand. Why would a demon sword protect a human? Something nagged at my memory. Tessaiga and Tenseiga were not made until after Inutaisho had mated with the human woman. Did that have anything to do with it? 

    But the girl could not truly use the sword. She handed it to Inuyasha and somehow, as if by accident, he managed to unlock it's power, or at least, a fraction of its power. Though I had transformed into my true form, he still defeated me. 

    I lost an arm that day but not my determination. I would recover the sword and find some way to use it no matter what. But I discovered that only someone with both human and youkai blood could touch it, to make it transform. Humans could touch it but not use it. Youkai could not even do that. Only a hanyou would really be able to use this weapon of incredibly strength. It didn't seem fair somehow. What had father done to the sword before he died? He had used it quite often while he was still alive and it had not been repellent to youkai then. 

    So I took on a human arm, offered by a strange man named Naraku, a hanyou himself I assumed. I did not trust him but he provided me with a means to an end. I faced Inuyasha again. I discovered the power of Tessaiga and I showed him just how deadly his precious weapon could be. I meant to destroy him with it but somehow he prevailed once again. Whenever the safety of that girl comes into question, he finds a way to defeat me. He regained possession of the sword and I retreated. I may have used Tessaiga but it was only a temporary solution. I could not use it without assistance of some sort and I do not rely on anyone except myself. 

    But if I could not use Tessaiga, then no one could. 

    I returned once more to my brother, this time with a dragon arm that I hunted. I was not after my brother, for he was unimportant, but instead I attacked Tessaiga only. The sword was a formidable opponent but I was determined to win. If it took everything I had, I would break Tessaiga into pieces and prove that I was the strongest. I had payed attention to all the details, so I thought. I hunted a arm that was strong, that could break even a demon fang in half. I knew what sort of moves Inuyasha would make for I had watched him often from that point. I had prepared for every last detail. Except for one. I did not expect Inuyasha to defend his sword so strongly. I did not expect him to put himself in harm's way to save Tessaiga from being broken. He was willing to be blinded all for the sake of that sword. 

    And who knew that blinded, Inuyasha was more powerful than even I could have expected. 

    Out of all the things that could have happened, I was not prepared for the Kaze no Kizu. My world, in an instant, was full of light and pain. Never before had I been on the receiving end of an attack that Inutaisho himself had created and for the first time, I realized that power that both my father -and- my brother possessed. I could feel the fire cutting into my skin, trying to tear me to pieces. I couldn't even transform, it had such a tight hold on me. Red flashed across my vision and my armor cracked then shattered. I knew that I would die. I knew that I didn't stand a chance against this, not being as unprepared as I was. 

    But something happened. 

    At my side, there was a vibration. Even as the hot first of Tessaiga tried to engulf me, something pushed outwards from Tenseiga, a black light that surrounded my body and quickly turned into a blue, healing energy. Though hardly aware of what was going on around me, I felt my body disappear from that place and then I knew no more. 

    When I awoke, I was far from the battle scene. My eyes, blank and red, slowly cleared and my mind started to return to itself. What had happened? I wasn't sure. Had Tenseiga awoken? Had Tenseiga saved me? It was a sword that could not kill and for that I hated it and yet, when I needed it most, it saved me. 

    The forest where I was at was dark and quiet, empty, or nearly so. I will never know how long she was there, but a young human looked around the tree and stared at me with open curiosity. If she saw me appear, she did not say so. She didn't say anything, in fact. I remember snarling at her, still stuck in a half-demon personality. She cowered but did not run. She confused me, that small one. As much as I gave her reason, she wasn't frightened of me. She tried to help me, to feed and water me, though I had done nothing at all for her. Because of this, I am sure she was beaten by the villagers in the town nearby. Never before had someone cared such for me. I spoke with her, questioned her, and still she didn't respond. I looked over at her and she smiled, truly happy. 

    Why was she happy? 

    What was I to a small, dirty, silent human girl? 

    I lay there only for as long as it took me to recover. Though Tenseiga had saved me, I had still suffered serious wounds both inside and out. My demon blood didn't take long to heal though and within a few days, I was able to move around again. The girl had gone off to wherever it was she stayed and though I wondered briefly of her, I knew she would be cared for by the humans. Or so I assumed 

    I fear I was wrong. 

    Even now as I throw a stone at Jaken to quiet him, I sense something is wrong. There is a dangerous scent on the wind and a feeling of unease in the air. Wolves. It is the wolves. I have never liked the wolves; they are rough and crude, more wild than us dogs. They are unnecessarily violent as well, always out for blood. They are hunting again, the wolves, and their prey is most likely the nearby village. 

    But wait, something smells familiar in that blood-smell. 

    A particular scent I had recently become acquainted with. It is faint but my nose picks it up easily. Blood, blood is on the wind. 

    That girl....... 

    Why am I moving towards her scent? I do not know. Some quiet part of me wants to know what is happening, is wondering after the girl's well-being. I fear she is dead but why should I fear that? 

    My feet are taking me right to her. I can see a small body laying abandoned on the ground and I approach it. She is so thin and pathetic that not even the wolves would eat her. How sad. Jaken says something but I am not paying attention. This girl, this child, she is dead. She had been strangely kind to me and now she is dead. 

    "Let's test the true power of Tenseiga." 

    Without really knowing why, I pull the sword from it's sheath. Why am I doing this? She is a human and humans are weak. It was because of a human that my father was weakened and eventually died. Tenseiga vibrates in my hand as I point it towards the girl, a few pulses of energy, like a heartbeat. My vision seems to shift and before me, I see dark, crawling creatures. They look up at me and I know they are minions from hell. These guys are from hell? Yes, I can see that now. Tenseiga lets me see that now. 

    I slash the sword through the creatures with one, smooth stroke. A light that is visible only to me flashes before my eyes and they are cut into pieces. So Tenseiga _can_ kill but only those of the dead. What good does this do to me? I am not sure. Kneeling, I pick up the tiny, broken body and cradle it in my good arm. She is still warm, a recent kill, and looks so sad and innocent with her dirty face and torn clothing. If she had been my child, my charge, I would have taken care of her properly. 

    What am I thinking? She is human. She could never be my child. She is dead. She never will be my child. I do not want her. 

    _Thud _

    Thud-thud 

    What have I done? 

    Her eyes open; they are a clear brown, rimmed by those delicate eyelashes that young children have. They are the same eyes that have looked at me for the past day and yet they are different. Under my hand, her heart beats with a steady, rhythmic thudding and her chest rises and falls with each, life-giving breath. We stare at each other for a moment and I do not know what to think. She smiles at me, only me, as if she has found a precious, lost loved one. 

    What have I done? 

    I have saved a human life. Tenseiga, have you done this to me? Have you made care what happens to humans? Why am I so relieved that this girl's heart is beating? Why? Something has happened and I am not sure what it is. My life is shifting around me and I cannot understand it. Before my fight with Inuyasha, I did not care. 

    I stand and the girl looks up at me. I must think. Turning, I do not listen to Jaken's whining for it is always the same thing and requires no attention. I will return to the clearing and we will leave so I can think somewhere quiet. 

    She follows me. I knew she would. 

    If she were my charge, I would cloth her properly. 

    Tenseiga, what is your true power? You can save lives, but what are you doing to me? Why, of all things, did you let me save a human girl? 

    I suppose I shall have to find her some something to wear...... 

**--Owari--**

(Paradigm: A state of being, a mind-set. Paradigm Shift: The abrupt change of said state-of-being) 

(end) 


End file.
